Lactic acid is a common chemical encountered in foodstuffs, medicines and other products. Lactic acid is a naturally occurring chemical and has the formula CH3CH(OH)COOH. The corresponding lactate anion has the formula CH3CH(OH)COO− However, for convenience, lactic acid and the lactate anion are often represented by their stoichiometric formulas, namely C3H6O3 and C3H5O3−.
Lactic acid is a desirable product because it may be converted into a biodegradable polymer that may be used to form bottles and other useful products. Accordingly, the market for lactic acid is continuously growing. There are known ways to make lactic acid, including using gypsum as a reactant.
Various attempts have been made to produce lactic acid using electrolysis (e.g., in an electrolysis cell). In general, this reaction involves sodium lactate aqueous solution (under the influence of an applied voltage) to produce lactic acid at the cell's anode. This chemical oxidation reaction of the cell's anolyte solution is represented as follows:

In many electrolytic cells designed to accomplish this conversion of lactate anion to lactic acid, a solid ion conducting membrane, such as a NaSICON membrane, is used. During the chemical reaction, the produced sodium ions (Na+) flow through the cell's membrane (e.g., towards the cathode). However, lactic acid is an organic acid, and as such, the lactic acid produced in this reaction would decrease the pH of the anolyte solution. This decrease in the pH operates to stop the conduction of the sodium ions through the membrane. This is referred to as “poisoning” or “fouling” of the membrane. Once the pH of the anolyte reaches a certain acidic level, the sodium ions can no longer flow through the membrane and the formation of lactic acid in the cell ceases.
It should be noted that although the prior example was given with respect to lactic acid, attempts have been made to form other carboxylic acids (such as, for example, citric acid, oleic acid, adapic acid, decanoic acid, etc.) from their corresponding alkali salts using similar reactions in electrolysis cells. However, as all of these carboxylic acids are acidic chemicals, these electrolytic chemical reactions also suffer from a similar type of “poisoning” of the membrane that was described above. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a new type of electrolysis cell that can be used to form lactic acid (or another type of carboxylic acid), wherein the membrane will not be poisoned (fouled) by the production of the acid. Such a new type of electrolytic cell is disclosed herein.